ST. LOUIS—The No. 17 University of Southern Indiana softball team scored seven unanswered runs to rally past Wayne State University for a 9-6 triumph in an elimination game of the NCAA Division II Midwest Region #1 Tournament Sunday afternoon.

USI (39-10) trailed 6-2 heading into the top of the seventh inning, but a pair of singles and an error put Screaming Eagles on all three bases with just one out. Senior pitcher Brooke Harmening (Whiteland, Indiana) cut the Eagles' deficit to three with a sacrifice fly; then, with the Eagles down to their last strike, sophomore catcher Haley Hodges (Portage, Indiana) hit a three-run homer over the centerfield fence to tie the contest at 6-6.

After Wayne State (43-20) went quietly in the bottom of the seventh, USI opened the eighth inning with back-to-back singles and a walk to load the bases.

Junior third baseman Toni Braun (Evanston, Indiana) drove in the go-ahead run with a sacrifice fly; then USI tacked on another run following a single by Grace Clark (Indianapolis, Indiana) and a Wayne State error.

Harmening (23-4), who earned the win in the circle, followed Clark with an RBI-single to put the Eagles in front 9-6. Harmening, who was 3-of-4 at the plate with two RBIs, allowed three runs, one earned, off six hits and two walks. She struck out three batters.

Wayne State began the scoring in the second inning as it took advantage of a dropped foul ball to plate two runs.

A two-run blast by Clark in the top of the third inning, however, tied the contest at 2-2.

The Warriors temporarily forced Harmening out of the pitcher's circle in the bottom of the sixth with a lead-off walk. Junior pitcher Sarah Owens (Indianapolis, Indiana), however, struggled as a walk, a single, and a two-out home run led to four Wayne State tallies.

Harmening came back into the circle in the seventh inning and proceeded to set down the next four batters she faced. Wayne State had a one-out single in the eighth, but that was all the Warriors would get as USI shut the door on the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference champions.

USI is currently playing No. 1 University of Missouri-St. Louis. The Eagles must defeat the Tritons twice in order to advance to the NCAA II Midwest Super Regional.